Case Issue: Does HUD's final rule, "Implementation of the Fair Housing Act's Discriminatory Effects Standard," violate the Fair Housing Act (FHA) because it allows plaintiffs (1) to show disparate impact only by demonstrating a statistical disparity and (2) displace challenged policy choices without showing theirs are at least as effective? Does the FHA preclude the application of the Rule to homeowner insurers specifically because (1) the Rule "pervasively injects" race into what was a previously "race-blind" process and (2) insurance law requirements break the causal chainbetween the alleged discriminatory acts and the injury claimed by plaintiffs?

Case Name: Bank of Am. v. City of Miami; Wells Fargo Co. v. City of Miami

Case Issue: Does the term "aggrieved" in the Fair Housing Act impose a zone-of-interst requirement more stringent than the injury-in-fact requirement of Article III of the Constitution to have standing to sue; and whether the City is an "aggrieved person" under the Fair Housing Act so that it could sue lendees for predatory practices that led to foreclosures and increased costs for the City.

Case Result: AFL collected attorney's fees awarded in Barkley v. Olympia from defendants, United Homes, after compelling disclosure of financial statements and assets showing that principals of United Homes had transferred the assets in order to avoid paying the judgment.

Case Name: Bennett v. HUD

Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. D.C. Docket: 1:14-CV-326(ESH)

Case Issue: Is HUD's determination on remand that surviving spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers are entitled to no relief arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion or otherwise illegal?

Case Result: The Ninth Circuit affirmed, finding that the district court's denial of class certification was not clear error. The district court cited numerous examples of individual issues that would predominate over issues common to the class regarding whether CitiMortgage breached its Temporary Trial Period deadline and, if so, what damages were caused by the breach. Additionally, it found the Plaintiffs had failed to affirmatively allege that they met one of the prerequisities for seeking class action relief.

Case Result: In a disappointing ruling for surviving heirs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a federal district court ruling that lenders are not required to honor foreclosure protections in federal regulations when those regulations are not specifically incorporated into the mortgage agreement.

Case Name: Diamond v. Superior Ct. State of Cal., County of Santa Clara

Case Issue: Are landlords liable for unlawful discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) when they fail to take reasonable action after a tenant brings complaints of harassment or a continuing pattern of racially discriminatory conduct by another tenant? Under the FHA, are plaintiffs required to show that the defendant acted with discriminatory intent in these circumstances?

Case Result: The second circuit held that: 1) no particular form of evidence (medical, etc.) is needed to demonstrate a disability, even under the Fair Housing Act's tougher standard (same as the pre-2008 Amendments ADA); 2) an impairment that limits one's ability to secure housing or, importantly, that is perceived to limit that ability, constitutes a disability; and 3) that one can make a discriminatory statement about the availability of housing under the FHA regardless of whether the person in question is actually disabled.

Case Result:The Court found that the disparate impact standard is cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and that the Act not only prohibits intentional acts of discrimination, but also housing practices that have an unjustified discriminatory effect.

Case Issue: Was there sufficient evidence to sustain the jury verdict and damages awards for fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and violation of the NY General Business Law, and did the court abuse its discretion in its award of attorneys' fees to plaintiffs?

Case Issue: Under the Fair Housing Act, is a housing provider liable for failing to promptly correct and end tenant-on-tenant harassment on its property?

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